Thursday, 28 April 2016

Prince shocked the music world and beyond when it was reported that he was found dead at his studio on April 21 at the age of 57. 2016 had seen quite a few deaths in the entertainment world such as Glenn Frey and David Bowie but Prince's death was international news because it was so unexpected and sudden.The tributes that poured in and the estimated net worth of Prince at $300 million and growing showed how successful he was at his craft. In fact, he took the top two spots on the Billboard album chart the week after his passing and this is after selling 100 million albums during his career.

His impact is easy to see when looking at the Billboard 200 for the second week of May 2016, where he occupies 5 out of the Top 7 albums on the charts. This is in part thanks to the proliferation of Prince videos on YouTube after his death, which have amassed millions of views and shows how much pent-up demand there was for his previously-banned videos.What Are Some Lessons From His Success?1) Use Your Talents and Have Faith In YourselfPrince`s first album For You was released in 1978 when he was only 20 years old. Rather than using studio musicians, he played all 27 instruments himself. Rather than having any outside help, he composed, arranged and produced all of the songs himself also. He was able to do this by having Warner Brothers grant his full creative control over his first three albums.

The result? the combination of his songwriting skills, musicianship, recognition of the power of music videos through MTV and a knack for creating just the amount of controversy resulting in an increasingly successful string of albums which culminated in the monster album Purple Rain. Released in 1984, Purple Rain spent 24 consecutive weeks at Number One on the Billboard Album Charts and the movie of the same name grossed almost $70 million at the box-office.Fight For Yourself And What You Believe InWarner Brothers signed Prince when he was a teenager and reaped the rewards when Prince became a megastar who sold millions of albums. However, as has happened with many acts such as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, disputes arose between the artist and the record company.

The history of the dispute between Prince and Warner Brothers was ongoing and complex but it was marked most notably by Prince changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol and referring to himself as 'The Artist Formerly Known As Prince'. Why? He felt that the record company took over the name 'Prince' for itself despite the fact that it was his actual first name, not a stage moniker. The dispute went on for years and was marked by such instances as Prince writing 'Slave' on his cheeks. It obviously rubbed some people the wrong way but Prince managed to win in the end when he gained back control of his catalog from Warner Brothers in 2014. All of the extra publicity throughout the dispute didn't hurt either!Be In Control Of Your Image And Your WorkUntil his sudden passing, it was impossible to find Prince videos on YouTube as he had anything with his music or image taken down as a copyright violation. He wrote over 600 songs so that's a lot of potential YouTube videos to watch out for! He also asked people to turn off their cellphones at concerts, at business meetings and for visitors to his house.This kept an air of mystery about Prince, definitely in contrast to other celebrities such as the Kardashians. In the months before his death, he did a series of concerts where it was only himself, a piano and a microphone. He played his songs solo without any accompaniment, a rarity for a rock or pop artist, but the tour sold out instantly and the shows received rave reviews. The fact that people couldn't see Prince on the internet made them all the more desperate to see him live, even if just to catch a glimpse of him performing. It all further proved the adage that "Less is more:". In Prince's case, it was "A lot less is a lot more!".

As The Billboard chart from May 14, 2016 showed, there was still huge demand for Prince's music. Having five albums in the top 7 demonstrated that talent and hard work are sure paths to success and that it helps not to overexpose yourself or make people tired of seeing you all the time.Success = talent + hard work. As Prince showed by being true to himself, how you manage your resulting success can make all the difference. Rest in peace, Mr. Nelson.

Monday, 11 April 2016

Marketing involves figuring out the value of your service, product or idea and communicating that to potential customers who will ideally be convinced to purchase it. In the pre-technology days, this would involve methods such as posters, billboards, newspaper ads and so on. In the modern era, marketing has expanded to the internet through laptops, personal computers and smartphones. While the methods of marketing are involving, some of the basic principles remain the same. Theses quotes provide some valuable and timeless insights.

Monday, 4 April 2016

The Late Late Show with James Corden scored a major coup with its 'Carpool Karaoke' sketch by having Bruno Mars as a guest. The YouTube video immediately attracted massive publicity, 17 million views in two days, showing that YouTube has become as important as actual TV viewers for late night talk shows.

This follows on the heels of Jimmy Fallon's Classroom Instruments version of the song Enter Sandman with Metallica that has garnered 10 million+ views. Another recent one with magician David Blaine also has 10 million+ views, helping Fallon's YouTube channel gain over 6 BILLION views so far!

With the fragmented nature of television viewing these days, it wouldn't be a surprise if NBC is nostalgic for the glory days of Johnny Carson when the network dominated late night television. Carson ruled the airwaves after 11:30 pm for decades and also gave a significant boost to David Letterman who followed him at 12:30.

This occurred back in the days when there were three major national networks along with the local affiliates. NBC had very few competitors and those that did compete such as ABC's Nightline or Fox's Arsenio Hall didn't make much of significant dent in NBC's ratings.When Johnny Carson retired in 1992, there was a huge controversy over his succession involving David Letterman and Jay Leno. Letterman was the heir-apparent because he was already on NBC while Jay Leno was a frequent guest host on Carson's show as well as NBC's choice. Eventually. Jay Leno did win the Tonight Show while David Letterman went to CBS and hosted his own late night show at 11:30. They both dominated the late night airwaves until just a couple of years ago when both men retired from last night TV, despite the fact that they were still at the top of their game. What happened?Television and the InternetThe traditional notion of people watching shows in front of their TV when the network airs them has been severely disrupted. Viewers can PVR their favorite shows and watch them at a later date, fast-forwarding through the commercials. They can binge watch a series on Netflix or they can catch a show online on their laptop or smartphone while they're commuting.

Late night talk shows have been affected also. People don't watch an episode from 11:30 until 12:30 like they used to (let alone shows from 12:30 am onward). These days, people will want to catch the highlights, whether it's the best jokes from the monologue or the skits that take place before the first guest comes on. So, while viewers will watch entire episodes of a TV series, they might only watch bits and pieces of a late night talk show episode. This holds especially true for the all-important millennial viewing audience.Unfortunately neither Letterman nor Leno were able to adapt to these new circumstances, as they themselves acknowledged. Like Carson with his skits such as the Carnac the Magnificient, Letterman also produced memorable routines such as Stupid Pet Tricks and Top 10 Lists which would have been viral online had the internet been prevalent in the 80's and 90's. Jay Leno relied on his famous joke-filled monologues for his laughs but that wasn't quite enough for NBC in the current digital age.Enter Jimmy FallonJimmy Fallon succeeded Jay Leno on the Tonight Show and brought his unique brand of comedy that went beyond the typical monologue and interview. His YouTube channel now has 10.5 million+ subscribers and almost 5 billion views. His most popular YouTube videos include his famous routines such as Lip Sync Battles and Wheel of Musical Impressions, skits that go instantly viral online as soon as they air.

Fallon dominates the late-night TV ratings over Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert and his YouTube channel also has the most viewers by far, leading Jimmy Kimmel who has 3 billion viewers and Conan O'Brien with 2.2 billion.Enter James CordenJames Corden hosts the Late Late Show on CBS at 12:30 am and might have fremained very unknown if he hadn't have gone extremely viral with his popular sketch Carpool Karaoke. This basically consists of Corden driving around Los Angeles with musical guests such as Adele, Justin Bieber and One Direction.

It's a very simple concept and a very inspired idea. Everyone, or mostly everyone, loves to sing when they're driving alone in a car or with a group of friends joining in. Likewise, a celebrity guest who might not want to belt out a song when on the couch with a talk show host is a lot more willing when driving around in a car. Carpool Karaoke became so popular that CBS even gave him a prime-time special in March showcasing his best carpool karaoke moments.What does this show? It shows the power of digital marketing and the huge influence of social media. There is a segment of the audience (usually older) that will watch late night talk shows at 11:30 pm but the younger viewers will pick and choose the parts of the show that they want to watch, especially when it's viral. YouTube has definitely become a major player in the late night television world, something Johnny Carson might never have envisioned in the good old days of watching TV in the bedroom!